How to Optimize the Performance of your Android Device

Android users often complain of their smartphone or tablet being slower than their Apple counterparts. Many Android devices suffer from lags, slowdowns, battery drains and countless other problems. The reason for this, mainly, is that sometimes the hardware isn't good enough for the operating system to run on.

From my personal experience, I can attest to the fact. As soon as the new Jelly Bean upgrade came out, I installed it on my Nexus S device. Remember that Nexus S was the device that was the first smartphone to use Gingerbread OS and it has been a long time since its release. So, after being blown away by the amazing features that Google Now had to offer, I started seeing some lags and slowdowns. In fact, the moment I upgraded, I noticed that my smartphone wasn't as fast as it used to be. After googling up a bit, I found that the Jelly Bean OS was too heavy for my poor old Nexus S device. Things like these usually make me want to hit Google right in the head.

Anyways, after being disappointed by the recent upgrade, I started looking for ways to speed up my grudgingly slow device. Thankfully, Google was my friend again as I came across some great applications that helped me optimize the performance of my device. Though I haven't managed to make my Nexus S as fast as the latest Samsung Galaxy S4, its speed and battery life have significantly improved. Here are some tips that helped me speed things up:

Clean Master

Clean Master is an application that works like CCleaner does for Windows. It cleans up all the unnecessary files that slow down the performance of your Android device. Few of the features that work great are History Eraser, Task Killer, and Privacy Manager. The history eraser lets you clean up all the old files with one single click. This also means you get to clean cache files and residual files at once. Another feature that I love is the task killer. This will let you clean up all the background tasks that are hogging the system memory.

Finally, if you want a quick boost to your device, the application also lets you drop a quick boost widget onto your homescreen so that you can quickly kill all unwanted tasks without having to open the application. Clean Master is free and works perfectly on non-rooted smartphones.

NQ Mobile Guard

Mobile Guard is another free application that not only boosts your phone's performance, but also your battery life. The app has four battery-saving modes that you can choose from depending upon your need to save the battery and your overall usage. This app too provides one-click optimization for your smartphone along with virus scanning. If that wasn't enough, Mobile Guard also comes with a dedicated network manager and file manager. Overall, the app can act as your one-stop optimizer. If, however, you're in need of simply a task killer, you can opt for an app like Super Task Killer.

JuiceDefender

JuiceDefender is a dedicated battery-saving application for your Android device. This free application lets you save your battery life by killing tasks and services that are not required. For example, the app shuts down 3G when you aren't using the phone. However, it smartly turns it on every few minutes so that you won't end up losing on important messages. The smart app is free to download with some more features available for paid users.

Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.